Raul Fernandez ended the first day at the Mugello circuit in 16th place overall and without direct access to Q2. After his positive result at the Catalunya GP, the Spanish rider couldn’t keep pace with the fastest riders today at Mugello, including his teammate Miguel Oliveira, who finished in 4th position and with direct access to Q2.
In a debrief, Raul spoke about the first day of practice at the Italian circuit: ‘I’m upset, a bit upset. We worked well until the last attack, I was always inside the top 10 and had good pace with the medium and soft tires, but in the last round we changed the tires and I couldn’t attack. I’m frustrated today because we had everything to be in Q2 and the potential. On the first attacking lap I thought I had everything to do it, but I couldn’t. We have to look at Barcelona as a reference for us, tomorrow we have another chance and I think our pace is good.
Asked if he thinks his pace is good enough to make it to Q2 tomorrow, Raúl replied: ‘Yes, the pace is good and on the attack lap we have to get the electronics right, that’s what we have to work on. If in the race we’re in the top 10, but in qualifying we’re 13th/14th, it’s hard to recover. It won’t be like Montmeló because I think Pecco has something more than us, but we can be there.